Ear protector



EAR PROTECTOR Filed Jan. 1l, 1946 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 14, 1947 'UNITED STATES-.PATENT OFFICE Agnes H. Ungemah', White Plains, N. Y.

Application January 11, 194.6, Serial No. 640,423

4 Claims. (Cl. 2-209) l This invention relates to an article of Wear. particularly designed for womens use to cover and protect the ears, being of the nature of articles known generally by the designatio-n of ear mus.

Current styles of womens hats and hair dress leave Womens ears unprotected, and a purpose of this invention is to provide separate and individual ear protectors which will cover the ears and adjacent areas, and from the standpoint of appearance will be suitable as articles of dress and will harmonize with the customary articles of head wear.

Other objects are facility and security of attachment, and simplicity and inexpensiveness of construction. Other general objects will appear from the following description.

`The invention contemplates a suitably shaped member that has dependable means for attachment either to the ear or to the hair or to both. For example, the device will rbe long enough to cover the ear completely and to extend well above the ear into the region of the hair. Means such as a loop may be provided at the upper end for attachment to the hair through the medium of a hair pin. Further down, the device may be attached to the ear, either through a loop disposed to go over the top part of the ear,

or through an ear ring at the bottom end disposed to engage the lobe of the ear, or both. The device may be made of a flexible material, such as felt, in which case it will need to =be secured both at the top and bottom, or it may have a body of stiffer material, such as leather, in which case the loop for going over the ear and engaging back of the ear may suffice to hold the device in place. At least, when supplemented by the ear ring attachment so as to afford a two point support, the intermediate ear loop will hold the device firmly in place.

For the larger models which extend well up the side of the head, I have found it desirable to provide a central, longitudinal stiffening rib or stave which serves to give a :permanent shape to the device and cause it te conform to the requisite curved configuration and tend to stay in place.

I shall now describe the illustrated embodiments of the invention and shall thereafter point out the invention in claims.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a device em- :bodying the invention and shown in place on a wearer.

Fig. 2 is a view of the device similar toFig. l,

2 showing the device and immediately adjacent region of the wearer on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is an inside elevation View of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and on the scale of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the device in place on a wearer-a portion of whose features are shown.

Fig. 5 is an outside elevational View of a modified embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the latter form taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 5.

The devices, of course, come in pairs, and are accordingly reversely shaped. The ones shown in the drawings are for the left ear. For the right ear, the outside shape will be like the'inside shape of the ones shown. As a matter of design, the device is shown as scalloped on its rear edge and generally approximating a wing or pinion shape. When applied, it will be curved somewhat about both its major and minor axes.

Presently the styles either permit or require an abbreviated head dress for women, such as the fur hat l of Fig. 1. The hair being dressed up and off the ears, leaves the sides of the head quite unprotected, which condition is not relieved by the head gear.` It is fitting, therefore, for women to supplement their head dress with some form of ear protection. It is desirable that such supplemental protection be independent of the hat and be attractive in appearance and be easily put on and removed and be secure against accidental displacement when being worn. They must also lbe adapted to t in with the usual head dress in esthetic eiect.

The device shown is a pinion shape member 2 which is of a size to t over the ear and extend with its pointed end well up above the ear over the hair, Thus a substantial area is protected. The compound curvature of the device gives complete enclosure to the ear.

The device may have various means of attachment, both to the ear and to the hair. A device of relatively stiff material, such as leather, will have a diagonal transverse strap 3 on its rear face, disposed intermediate the ends oi the de-` vice in position to loop over the ear of the wearer, as indicated, and support the device so that its lower end just comes over the lobe of the ear. If desired,- the strap may be of elastic material. For the stiffer material this form of support will often suflce. However, and especially for more exible material, such as felt, it is desirab-le to have the lower end secured to the ear.

In the form shown, this is accomplished by means of an ear ring attachment 4 which is secured on the inner face of the device at its lower end. While the term ear ring is applied to this attachment, it is shown as without the usual jewel ornament, the bow at one end being cemented to the inner face of the ear protector. The lobe of the ear is secured between this cemented end and the usual adjustable clamp that screws through the other end of the bow, as shown in Fig. 4.

At the top or pointed end. of/ the protector, means may be provided for attachment to the hair. This is particularly desirable if the protector is of flexible material, such as felt. As.,

shown, this may be a loop 5 on the inner face near the top end, through which one leg of a hair pin 6 may pass, and the hair pin be used .to fasten this end to the hair.

The larger sizes of protectors may need supplemental stiffening means to prevent their folding or bending about a transverse axis. As shown, the device may have an axial stiiening rib or stave 'l provided for this purpose, being attached by stitching, for example. Thus the requisite curved configuration to cause the device to conform to the head, as shown in Fig, 4, will be permanently maintained.

It is obvious that various other modifications maybe made in the constructions shown in the drawings -and above particularly described, within the principle and scope of the invention as dened in the following claims.

I claim:

1.y An ear muff comprising a member of form sustaining material shaped to have a. major and minor axis and curved about both axes, a stiiening rib disposed along the major axis, a strap on the rear face of the member forming a loop intermediate the ends for engaging over the ear of the wearer and positioned to support the member over the ear with its major axis coinciding with that of the ear, and an ear ring on the inside of the member at its lower end positioned to engage the lobe of the ear when the strap is looped over the ear.

2. An ear muff comprising a member of form sustaining material shaped to have a major and minor axis and curved about both axes, a stiiening rib disposed along the major axis, a strap on the rear face of Athe member forming a loop intermediate the ends for engaging over the ear of the wearer and positioned to support the member over the ear with its major aXis coinciding with that of the ear, an ear ring on the inside of the member at its lower end positioned to engage the lobe of the ear when the strap is looped over the ear, and a loop on the inside of the member at its upper end adapted. to cooperate with a hair pin to secure the upper end to the hair.

3. An ear muil comprising a member of form sustaining material shaped: to havey a major and minor axis and curved about both axes' and proportioned to cover the ear and extend substantially above the ear into the region of the hair, a loop on the inside of the member near the upper end of the major axis and substantially parallel to said axis adapted to cooperate with a hair pin to secure the upper end to the hair, and an ear ring on the inside of the member near the lower end of the major axis adapted to engage the lobe of the ear of the wearer.

4. An ear muil comprising a member of form sustaining material shaped to have a major and minor axis and curved about both axes and proportioned to cover the ear and. extend substantially above the ear into the region of the hair, a loop on the inside of the member near the upper end of the major axis and substantially parallel to said axis adapted to cooperate with a hair pin to secure the upper end to the hair, a strap having its ends secured on the rear face of the member and extending diagonally across the member and adapted to loop over the ear of the wearer and position the member with its lower end covering the lobe of the ear, and an ear ring on the inside of the member at the lower end of its major axis positioned to engage the lobe of the ear when the strap is looped over the ear.

AGNES H. UNGEMAH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 188,323 Weed Mar. 13, 1877 1,743,005 Prescott et a-l Jan. 7, 1930 1,826,309 Gaston et al Oct. 6, 1931 1,606,878 Keim Nov. 16, 1926 1,857,974 Reno May 10, 1932 

